Sooners Head to West Coast for Santa Clara Tournament

Oklahoma

Santa Clara

Tulane

Fresno State

Santa Clara Tournament / Sept. 9-11 / Leavey Center / Santa Clara, Calif.
Live Stats / Watch Santa Clara Match Live / Match Notes

NORMAN – The Oklahoma volleyball team continues its seven-match road stretch to California for the Santa Clara Tournament Sept. 9-11.

"This weekend is another great road test for our team," head coach Lindsey Gray-Walton said. "We talk about having a mentality and maintaining our standard, no matter the gym, the team, or the situation and this six-day road trip will test that.

OU opens the tournament against host Santa Clara at 8 p.m. CT Friday. The Sooners will face Tulane at 4 p.m. CT Saturday, and finish the weekend against Fresno State at 3 p.m. CT Sunday.

"Great defense leads to elite offense, and it would be possible without the core unit in the backcourt, anchored by Callie Kemohah, who leads the Big 12 Conference in digs/set (5.09)," Gray-Walton noted.

"When you have trust in your defense behind the block to make the plays, it gives your team fuel to finish the point. Callie has taken her defensive game to another level, and we want to see that continued hunger from her in how she plays the game and owns her position."

Live stats will be available through Santa Clara Athletics' StatBroadcast page for all matches of the tournament. A live stream will be available for neutral site matches through Santa Clara Volleyball's Twitter page (@scuvolleyball), while Friday's match against Santa Clara will air on the WCC Network.

"This trip is also a great opportunity to enjoy our team in the off-court moments that are so crucial to building culture, community and trust for us to accomplish our goals for this season and ultimately make the moments they remember about their experience at OU," Gray-Walton noted. "We will have Cali Sooners in the building followed by OU alums and fans at Abilene Christian on Tuesday. We can't wait to see the Crimson & Cream fill up both venues over the next five days."

WEEKEND STORYLINES

BATTLE-TESTED

The Sooners went 1-2 in Nashville, Tenn. at the Lipscomb hosted LUV Invitational last weekend.
OU opened the weekend against Ball State, but ultimately were defeated 3-1 in four sets, 17-25, 27-29, 25-20, 16-25. Freshman Alexis Shelton led the Sooners with 18 kills and four blocks, while sophomore Megan Wilson tallied 13 kills, two blocks and two service aces. Kemohah, a sophomore Libero, collected 20 digs and three assists. Newcomer Taylor Preston added 11 kills and a career-high 10 digs.
Match two of the weekend saw the Sooners in a close five-set battle against Mississippi State, but the Sooners fell 3-2 (25-20, 25-21, 25-27, 25-27, 3-15). Wilson led the OU attack with 18 kills, five service aces, and seven digs. Sophomore Peyton Dunn posted 49 assists and eight digs. Defensively, graduate student Adria Oliver led the way with six blocks.
Against Lipscomb, the Sooners rallied to pull off a 3-1 win to defeat the Bisons, in four sets, 25-17, 25-11, 17-25, 25-20. Shelton once again led the match with 16 kills hitting an impressive .519, while Wilson contributed 13 kills and five blocks and digs apiece. Kemohah tallied 21 digs, four assists and a career-high three service aces.
Shelton was named to the LUV Invitational All-Tournament Team after recording 43 kills and seven blocks on the weekend.

YOUNG AND HUNGRY

The underclassmen on the 2022 team have been called on to make an immediate impact and have done just that.
Wilson has controlled the offense for the Sooners, leading the team with 94 kills and a 5.02 kills/set mark. She also leads the team with 14 service aces and had a career-high (five) against Mississippi State last Saturday.
A do-it-all athlete, setter Dunn ranks first on the team in assists (242) and second in digs (56). The Libero of the team, Kemohah, leads the top two spots in the conference with the most digs played in three sets (19 vs. Gonzaga and 18. vs. Iowa) and five sets (25 vs. Mississippi State). Kemohah also leads the conference ranks in digs, averaging 5.09 digs/set and tops the conference in total digs with 117.
Freshman Morgan Perkins is already making an impact defensively, leading the Sooners with 23 blocks so far this season. Offensively, she added 29 kills with a .324 hitting percentage. Preston has been impressive and ranks third in kills for the Sooners at 43 with a .303 hitting percentage.

WONDERFUL WILSON

Wilson, an opposite/outside hitter, opened the season as the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week, along with the most valuable player and spot on the All-Tournament Team at the OU Invitational.
She has been on a tear and currently ranks third in the league with 4.09 kills/set. Also leads the league in total kills (94) and kills in a four-set match (season-high 19).
Wilson also ranks third in the conference with 0.61 service aces/set and tied for first in total service aces (14) and in aces per match (5).
The Kingwood, Texas native ranks second in the conference, averaging 5.02 points/set and leads the Big 12 with 115.5 points.

KILLIN' THE GAME

The Sooners currently rank third in the Big 12 in kills per set, averaging 13.57. OU ranks first, however, in total kills with 312.
OU has posted 44 or more kills in all matches this season, including a season-high 60 against Mississippi State. The Sooners also rank first in kills in a three-set match (53).
Individually, Wilson is ranked in the top three in the conference with 4.09 kills/set. Her 94 total kills and season-high 19 kills in a four-set match rank first in the league.

QUICK HITTERS

Eight of OU's regular season opponents earned berths in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, including seven conference foes - No. 1 Texas, No. 15 Baylor, No. 19 Kansas, Iowa State, Kansas State, Texas Tech and West Virginia. The Longhorns reached the Elite Eight while the Jayhawks and Bears each advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, respectively.
After this weekend, OU will complete its non-conference slate. They will face Abilene Christian on the road and return to McCasland Field House to host both Texas Southern and Nevada. The Sooners open conference play in Austin, Texas, against the Longhorns, before returning to McCasland for their home conference opener against Kansas at 6 p.m. CT, Sept. 28.

SCOUTING SANTA CLARA

Santa Clara is led by head coach Erin Lindsey who's entering her fourth season with the Broncos.
The host team is very young, made up of 11 underclassmen (four freshmen and seven sophomores), along with seven upperclassmen (five juniors and two seniors).
Santa Clara returns Senior outside hitter Julia Sangiacomo, who is first in kills for the Broncos, registering 81 and a .353 hitting percentage. Sophomore setter Nive Tuileta has recorded 186 assists and 44 digs so far this season.
Leading the back court defense for the Broncos is Kat Georgiadis, she's logged 71 digs, 27 assists and four service aces in 2022.

SCOUTING TULANE

Head coach Jordana Price enters first season with the Green Wave after joining the staff in February 2022. Prior to Tulane, Price spent five seasons at Florida State where she served as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator.
The Green Wave roster consists of eight freshmen, a sophomore and junior, five seniors and two graduate students.
Senior Mackenzie Martin leads the team in kills with 72, hitting a .235. Sophia Ervanian is the leader of the Green Wave defense and has recorded 85 digs, 20 assists, and four service aces. At the setter position, Kate Van Houten runs the offense with 178 assists, 52 digs, and a .361 attack percentage with 18 kills.
In their last match, the Green Wave suffered a four-set defeat against Ohio University. Junior Kayla Kaiser led the team with 13 kills and hit a .435. Van Houten notched 37 assists and 10 digs for her second double-double of the season.

SCOUTING FRESNO STATE

Bulldogs interim head coach Abbie Wright enters her first year as head coach after joining the staff in May 2022. Prior to Fresno State, Wright was head coach at Seattle Pacific.
The team is young with eight underclassmen (three freshmen and five sophomores) and only three seniors and a junior.
The Bulldogs collected a win against Louisiana Tech last weekend. Junior Hannah Waters notched her third double-double of the season with 46 assists and 13 digs. Libero Molly Eppright matched her career high with 16 digs, while senior middle block Grace Doyle collected 17 kills and three blocks.

NEXT SERVE

The Sooners will play their final three non-conferences matches of the season. OU will face Abilene Christian in Abilene, Texas at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13. The squad will close out the non-conference slate at McCasland Field House, Friday, Sept. 16, to host both Texas Southern and Nevada at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.

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Sooners Head to West Coast for Santa Clara Tournament